Rock Island Today

Former Rock Island star Chasson Randle has signed on to spend his summer in Las Vegas as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans summer league team.

Vowing he is “almost where I want to be,” Randle recently departed for a four-day mini-camp in Louisiana. From there, it’s on to Las Vegas and ideally an NBA roster.

“My agent has been talking to New Orleans for a while but you never know about these things,” Randle told the Dispatch-Argus. “It was finally confirmed a few weeks ago, but there are no guarantees. I’m just going to go there to try my best to make their roster.”

Randle spent this past season as a member of the World Cup-winning Real Madrid team, where he averaged 2.6 points and a rebound in 23 games. This will be his fourth summer league and third NBA team since he left Stanford.

“To be honest, I don’t know much about the Pelicans,” he said. “All I know is this is an opportunity to play in the NBA and be a part of a team. I’ve been trying to work very hard the last three weeks. I’ve been going two or three times a day. I’ve been taking care of my body and trying to be in the best shape I can be in. I didn’t do what a lot of guys might do after they play a long season and win a championship. I got off the plane from Spain and got back to work.”

Randle’s reputation will precede him with the Pelicans. Since 2009, he has been a champion at every level including two FIBA titles with Team USA, a state high school title at Rocky, two NIT titles at Stanford, a title in the Czech League and a European championship.

“I have won at every level and I think that follows you wherever you go,” he told the Dispatch. “I think it does make a difference to teams; they want winners around. At the same time, I go to New Orleans not knowing exactly what they are looking for. I will go there (today) and start to figure out what they need and what I can do to help them get where they want to be.”